Method and apparatus for making hinge joints



i2 sheets-sheet 2 '////Q/j///A any METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING HINGE JOINTSl A June 23, 1942.

Patented June 23, 1942 UNITED STATES OFFICE Fred S. Boltz, Manseld, Mass.

Application January 2, 1941, Serial No. 372,802

3 Claims. A (Cl. 29-84) This invention relates to a method and apparatus for making hinge joints especially adapted for folding clothes driers, folding screens and similar folding articles, which comprise a plurality of hingedly connected frame units, although capable of use for other purposes.

The present application is a continuation in part of my co-pending application Serial No. 339,915, filed June 11, 1940, now Patent No. 2,253,606, and has for its main object a method for simultaneously making a large number of hinge joints disclosed in said co-pending application in a rapid and inexpensive manner which requires hardly any skill.

It is also among the objects of the present invention to provide a tool which is largely responsible for the simplicity and rapidity with which hinge joints may be made according to the present method.

Before explaining in detail the present invention it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood thatythe phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, and it is not intended to linut the invention claimed herein beyond the requirements of the prior art.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a folding clothes drier whose several racks are connected by hinges made according to the present method.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary View of two contiguous rails of adjoining racks of a folding drier which are connected by hinges made according to the present method.

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2 and shows the construction of a hinge joint.

Fig. 4 is a perspective View of a work or assembly bench on which hinge joints are simultaneously provided on the contiguous rails of the racks of a large number of folding driers.

Fig.. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary section taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a section similar to Fig. 5, showing the execution of a certain step of the present method.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view of part of a tool used in making the hinge joints according to the present method.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary View of the same part of the tool, showing the same in the performance of its designated function.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to Fig. l thereof, there is shown a clothes drier of familiar form which comprises several racks or frame units I5, each including a pair of upright'rails I6 which are connected by rods or cross bars I'I. The contiguous rails of adjacent racks I5 are hingedly connected as indicated at I8, said rails constituting the leaf members of the hinges and each pair of contiguous rails being preferably hinged'together at least at two different points; As the various hinge joints are identical, -description of one will suffice for all.

As best shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the contiguous rails I6 are formed with oppositely convex abutting edges I9 which are substantially semi-circular to permit relative angular movement of said rails through 360 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 and, hence, folding of the racks I 5 in either direction into parallel relationship with each other. The abutting edges I!! of the rails are formed with registering transverse slots 20 whose bottoms are intersected substantially centrally thereof by recesses or bores 2| in which are anchored, by means of transversely disposed, driven fasteners 22 of any suitable type, the ends of a flexible connecting member 23 which is preferably in the form of a relatively heavy cord. As the cord length 24 between the bottoms of the registering notches 20 is equal to the sum of the radii of curvature of the abutting edges I9, the latter may freely move one 'upon another as shown in dot-and-dash lines in Fig. 3, yet are held in firm engagement with each other against unnecessary looseness in any relative angular position of the rails.

'I'he described hinge readily lends itself to rapid quantity assembly as illustrated in Figs. I4l, 5 and 6.l Thus, any desired number of rails may be arranged side-by-side in pairs on an assembly bench or'table 25 of any convenient construction, whereby the convex sides I9 of each rail pair are brought to face each other (Fig. 5). As all rails are identical even as to the disposition of the bores ZI and slots 20 therein, it is merely necessary to align the corresponding ends of said rails in order to bring all bores 2| into alignment and the slots 2i) of each rail pair into registry. To this end, the assembly bench 25 has opposite side planks 28 which are spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the length of the rails I6 so that the mere placing of the rails across the v table 25 in the fashion shown in Fig. 4 brings all bores 2l and slots 20 into alignment.

Next, a continuous cord 23a (Figs. 4, 6 and 8) is passed through each series of aligned bores 2l in the rails. This is accomplished by securing the leading end of each flexible cord 23a to one end of a leader or pilot S by means described hereinafter, and then passing said leader with the other end'rst through and beyond a series of said aligned bores until said cord extends through the latter. In the present instance, two leaders are required for the two series of aligned bores of the rails. These leaders are stiff rods, preferably steel rods, which are of sufficient length to extend through all aligned bores of said series and are preferably of a considerably smaller cross-section than said bores to facilitate their unimpeded passage through the more or less accurately aligned bores. By the use of the leaders 30 as explained, the cords 23a are drawn into the aligned bores of the rails in a most simple and rapid manner,

The fasteners 22 are next driven into the separate rails I5 to anchor the cords in each rail. This is preferably done while the rails are still on the assembly table 25. Of course, any suitable type of fastener may be used, but I prefer to use the fastener shown and described more fully in my mentioned copending application Serial No. 339,915. After having applied the fasteners 22, the cords 23a are severed between consecutive rail pairs, leaving therein the cord lengths 23 (Fig. 3). This can be readily accomplished, for instance, by going with a thin knife blade between the rail pairs as they lie on the assembly table 25.

To secure the leading ends of the iiexible cords 23a to the leaders 39, I provide on the trailing end of each leader a sheath 35 which is adapted to receive the leading end of a cord. The sheath itself is a wire-plaited conduit whose meshes are relatively loose as shown in Fig. 7 so that they may be readily elongated in order to grip the cord as shown in Fig. 8. Thin strands 36 of wire are preferably used to facilitate the weaving of the sheath. One end of each sheath 35 is suitably mounted in a socket 31 (Fig. 6), provided in the trailing end of a leader 3i). This can be readily accomplished by twisting an end of the sheath until it ts into the socket 31 and then applying solder thereto. The sheath is normally open to such an extent that the cord may be readily passed thereinto. When the sheath is not suihciently open, any pointed tool or object, such as a pencil, may be inserted to open the sheath suiciently. As soon as the sheath with the cord therein contacts the first in a series of aligned bores 2l in the rails, the wall of said first bore forces the sheath to reduce its diameter to that of said bore (Fig. 8) and to close around the cord. The pressure from the walls of the aligned bores against the sheath and the cord therein, coupled with the grip by the elongated meshes of the sheath on the cord, sufficiently bind said cord to the sheath so that the latter drags the former through said bores. When the sheath clears the last in a series of aligned bores and receives no longer pressure from the wall of a bore, the grip on the cord by the elongated meshes of the sheath is too weak to drag the cord any further so that a continued forward pull on the sheath automatically clears the latter from the cord, which is very desirable. While the free ends of the strands o wire of the sheath may be harnessed in any convenient manner, it was not found disadvantageous to simply leave these ends loose in spite of their disentanglement over a period of use. By making the sheath of considerable length, the disentangled ends of the strands of wire may from time to time be cut off and the sheath used over a long period of time.

Even where a cord is to be passed through aligned holes of a single pair of rails, the sheath is of great advantage as it overcomes all the difficulties of threading a flexible cord through aligned bores in which said cord fairly ts. In that case, however, the sheath does not necessarily require a steel rod for a leader, it being merely necessary to twist the leading end of the sheath into a leader which is sufficiently stiff and long to be readily passed through the aligned holes in the two rails.

I claim:

l. A tool for drawing through aligned identical bores of a plurality of members a flexible cord of a size to iit said bores, comprising a stiff rod of suiiicient length to be passable through the aligned bores, and a woven sheath attached to one end of said rod and adapted to receive a length of said cord, said sheath being so loosely woven as to be capable of elongation to an extent that the meshes of the sheath may engage the cord therein.

2. A tool for drawing through aligned identical bores of a plurality of members a flexible cord of a size to t said bores, comprising a stiff rod of suicient length to be passable through the aligned bores, and a wire-plaited sheath attached to one end of said rod and adapted to receive a length of said cord, said sheath being so loosely woven as to be capable of elongation to an extent that the meshes of the sheath may engage the cord therein.

3. A tool for drawing through a hole of a member a flexible cord of a size to fit said hole, comprising a wire-plaited sheath adapted to receive a length of said cord and being so loosely woven as to be capable of elongation to an extent that the meshes thereof may engage the cord therein, and one end of said sheath being deformed into a relatively stiff leader.

FRED S. BOLTZ. 

